Hats

Wyatt LOVES hats. He always has; and the fetish has only got worse as he's gotten older because he is now more mobile. Now he not only wears hats he wears:Blankets... The funniest part is that he loves to walk around with blankets on his head so he can't see. He bumps into stuff all the time, laughs, gets up and keeps going. You'd think he'd learn but he loves it and thinks it is so funny.

Headbands.... He wears these as sunglasses too.....

Hair ties.....

Visors.... They often don't feel just right for him so he messes with them till he's satisfied....

Goggles....

He wears these for hours, most of the time he wears them on top of his head not over his eyes..
Evan wants to get in on the photo op too....

I left out the pictures of him in his hats because those aren't quite as interesting as his "homemade" hats. He wears all the hats he can get a hold of, pants are often found on his head, and food is also a popular item he chooses to wear.

Softball Days

We play a lot of softball in the summer and when we practice the boys are always with us. They are starting to take a very big interest in it as well, especially Evan. Wyatt wants to play a lot but mostly has to hang out in the dug out because he's still so small.

Getting ready for the throw...

Catching the ball. He was using my glove to catch which is way to big so he had to use both hands to hold it.

Picking up the bat. It is just cute to me because the bats are as big as he is. He actually is a pretty good hitter.

Little Wyatt trying to sneak out of the dugout.

My Amazing Ray of Sunshine

I LOVE THIS KID! He is so funny and such a ham all the time. He always makes me smile and makes me feel so special. I love his laugh, and his ever giving sense of humor. Probably why his nickname is my sunshiny bear.

Grandma Olsen

January 1922- May 2009

Things I love and want to remember about Grandma Olsen:

Her rolls

Her butter potato breakfasts with cream of Weber milk

How we weren't allowed to touch the walls in her house (which is something that I now understand but as a child tried to exploit.)

How she made me feel that I was always her favorite
How she called me Rebecca, Kathleen, Mary Jo, and finally Jenny

She is the hardest worker I know

Hearing stories about her weeding and gardening beets as a child

Sneaking peas from her garden before dinner time

Wearing pink fuzzy socks and sliding down her immaculately clean and slippery hallway

The way she saved even the last spoonful of food in Tupperware in her fridge

When she would take home leftovers for the cats

She loved animals

Her hugs, and the way she smelled

Christmas was always more special at her house

Chatting about everything on the couch in her kitchen

The blocks with everyone's name on them

Her laundry shoot, and helping her do wash

The flower bed

The hot water bottle that she gave me when I was sick

Listening to her talk about her homecoming dance

The love she had for everyone, especially my Grandpa

Her stubbornness and Independence

Listening to her curse for the first time

Camping in the canyon

Watching her welcome everyone into our family

Her hugs, and kisses

"Grandma you look so pretty," "oh Jenny I never looked pretty a day in my life."

How she never was older than 29+

How she keeps all of us as a family together

Her big tinted glasses... she was in fashion before the rest of us

Her ever giving heart

How much I'll miss her

Getting her hair done and never going anywhere where there was wind

Seeing her hair white for the first time

Knowing she was the coolest Grandma

Her house, the farm, and the land we played

Sitting on her lap while she read me stories

Watching her face light up when I played the piano

How much I love her

The Best Worst Vacation Ever

For vacation this year Russ and I decided to go on a cruise to the Mexican Riviera. We were so excited. Well I was doing most of the planning for the trip and Russ kept telling me to wait to book our reservations because we were trying to wait for the rates to go down, I got tired of waiting and booked the cruise clear back in February. Me being the great wife I am decided to play a little trick on my hubby. Like I said I planned and paid for everything clear back in February, well about March Russ finally decided it was time to book because we were leaving in May. Well I told him I'd look into it and told him the the ship was full and that we'd missed out and would have to go another time. He totally bought it and felt terrible for making me wait so long. I told him we'd try again for June and see if I could get anything in our price range. I should also note I made him feel really bad about missing the deadline... well he had to believe it was true. Anyway I planned, packed, and arranged for us to be up in Salt Lake on the date we needed to fly out and surprised Russ with the cruise the morning we left. He was so surprised, confused, and totally excited. It took him till about half way through our cruise to finally sink in. I loved it and it was hilarious. Getting ready to board the Carnival Splendor, at the Long Beach harbor in California.
The reason this was the best worst vacation ever is as follows... 2 days before we were supposed to leave the swine flu scare hits the United States and all cruise ships were re-directed or cancelled for all sailings to Mexico. So instead of a sunny trip to the beach I bought 4 new swimsuits to wear in glorious CANADA! Our trip was re-routed now stopping in San Fransisco, Victoria British Columbia, and Seattle Washington. Except for Canada Russ and I had been to both San Fransisco and Seattle, so our excursions were not the excitement we had anticipated because we had planned to go swimming with the dolphins and zip lining through the Mexican jungle. We made the best of it though, and had a great time anyway. Seven days by ourselves on a vacation where I didn't have to cook, clean, or do anything I didn't want to is always a plus.

The weather however was less than could be desired. California was the warmest at 69 degrees, the rest of the trip the weather didn't even hit 50 degrees! Luckily both Russ and I had brought coats, which I wore most of the time. Not only that it rained 6 out of 7 days.

Our first stop was at San Fransisco. I had never been here before and was really excited to see the Golden Gate Bridge. Alcatraz was cool to look at as we passed it by in the harbor.

Trying to catch a few rays in the "sun room." This was an open area of the boat where they had a pool and lounge chairs because the ceiling retracted to let in the warm Mexico sun.... however in our case the ceiling was closed the whole time due to rain and less than warm temps. Not only that the waves were so large that it was making unsafe swimming conditions on the pools on deck and we weren't allowed to swim on the boat either.

This was one of the funniest things. This picture is taken in no joke 49 degree weather. Some people were so insistent on getting some sun that they did it in too cold of weather. There were a few eccentric ones who had to use the new suit that they had bought for the warm sandy beaches of Mexico, however most of the people caught the sun in their coats, or blankets. Russ taking in some sun!Because our itinerary changed 2 days before departure, the boat was geared and ready for Mexico. These are a couple window displays. The music of the ship was tropical, and the jumbo movie screen always showed pictures of surfing, the setting sun, and beach loungers. To make matters worse the gift shops were chuck full of souvenirs of places we didn't even get to go. All of the postcards were from Mexico, Mexico T-shirts, etc.

After all was said and done we returned back to California to fly home. Our trip also unexpectedly included my grandmother's passing, an eye infection, motion/sea sickness, and a stolen cell phone. We really did enjoy the boat and there was lots to see and do on the ship. It was nice to spend time with Russ and the vacation was totally worth it. The crew really did try to compensate for our inconvience, and the food was of course fabulous. Russ and I have decided to cruise again and hopefully our next cruise will be less eventful.

The Update

Okay we finally got our computer here so now I can finally update all of our Summer. It will probably take a while so bear with me.....

Thanks Chee

My dad bought suits for both the Boys for their Birthday's. Evan had a chance to wear his when he sang and Nizhonii's baptism. The kids all sang I am a Child of God. Evan was less than shy and really belted it out. I was so proud. The suits are a little big so they haven't worn them other than to take pictures in. Wyatt's is really big so I didn't even get a photo; however when it becomes cool and time for suit season they'll both be a perfect fit. Thanks so much Dad this was a great idea.

Wyatt's Stats

We had his one year old check up this past week and I wanted to share how well he is growing.

Weight: 18.8 lbs

Height: 29 inches

Head Circumference: 18 inches

Developmental Milestones: He can do all of them.

He is growing strong and getting bigger everyday. He says lots of words: Mama, papa, Dada, done, more, etc. He can walk a few steps 6-7 and is taking more liberties with walking everyday. He eats solid foods, drinks milk from a cup, and sleeps through the night (with minimal help some nights :) )

Wyatt 1st Birthday!

So he made it to his first birthday. This year has been a whirlwind. I love him so much and am truly grateful to have Wyatt in my life. He is such a funny, sweet, and kind hearted individual. He always keeps me on my toes. My life would not be the same without him.

I love you Sunshiney Bear! We let our kids have their first birthday cake all to themselves and they don't have to share unless they wish. Evan just kind of poked at his cake, but Wyatt had a hay day and really enjoyed his freedom to get messy.
The cake was so good he couldn't resist the candle on top either.

At one point he thought he'd try and see what was under the plate. We don't give him plates and bowls yet because he always throws them off his tray. The cakes fate was almost the same as the rest of his food. Luckily Nali Man was there to catch it.

He really did enjoy it. He dug right in and had a great time!

The first taste. I love his frosting mustache.

Evan had the hardest time letting Wyatt have at it and not being able to help. We did make cupcakes for everyone else so after he was able to have his cupcake he was a little more apt to letting his brother have the spot light.

Opening Presents:

He really didn't know what to do. He liked the ribbons and tissue paper the best. He almost didn't care about what was inside wrapping.

Open your eyes kiddo!

We had the party at our house because it was really windy as usual. We had lots of balloons and the kids had a great time playing with them. My life has truly been blessed by this little boy and I'm so grateful for the time he get to be with us. I'm so grateful that families can be together forever because I couldn't imagine my life without them. I love you Wyatt.

Coloring Eggs

We let Evan color his eggs this year with minimal supervision. It was scary. He had a hard time understanding that they would break and crack if he was too hard on them. We colored 12 eggs and I think by Easter morning only 1 or 2 were not cracked. Oh well, he had a great time and it is a learning experience for all of us. Wyatt was a little small to be playing in dye so Jason took over and was a great pal! He had so much fun and Grandma was so patient. Mom was a little more nervous, but it's just laundry. I need to remember that sometimes. He had such a good time and loved putting the stickers on after we were done.

Community Easter Egg Hunt

Usually our city does the Easter Egg hunt up by the reservoir. Last year there was snow, but as parents we know almost always that it will be like this so we dress our kids up warm and go out. This year is was yucky as usual and it was raining. The hunt was moved inside the high school. There is only one road in and out of the reservoir so volunteers stood outside and re-directed traffic back to the school. The saddest part was that it started on time, so kids who were 5 minutes late didn't even get a chance to fill their baskets. They had a 1-4 year old area. as you can see the eggs are all over the place with not much hiding, but the kids enjoyed picking them up. The bigger kids trampled over the little kids, and some parents were a little overly helpful. :)

Evan with his goodie bag.

Picking up more eggs.

It is evident from the above pictures that little kids who couldn't walk were not going to have much luck in fighting off the other toddlers for eggs. Wyatt sat back with Jordan and they went and got all the eggs that were too high for the littler ones to reach. The boys had fun this year and we are grateful to the city who goes to so much work every year.